TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet has approved a record 5.26 trillion yen ($47 billion) defense budget as the country seeks to bolster its arms capability by increasingly buying advanced U.S. weapons.
The budget plan endorsed Friday rises 1. 3 percent from the previous year, a seventh annual increase since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 2012.
The defense spending is part of the 101 trillion yen ($910 billion) national budget for 2019. It’s also the first of Japan’s 27.5 trillion yen ($250 billion) five-year midterm plan released Tuesday under defense guidelines designed to bolster Japan’s defenses amid potential regional threats.
The budget plan covers the costs of refitting a helicopter carrier into Japan’s first aircraft carrier, which could carry F-35B stealth fighters, and purchases of other expensive U.S.-made weapons.
